[Axel]

That is cool marketing! Thanks for posting. Our Fury ice cream is melting....

[tarheel1231]

On a lighter note; have any of you heard about the new Thunderbird ice cream that will be sold in the park and in grocery stores in 27 states. Wonder if the Carolinas are part of the 27.

Unfortunately not, but it is available in Tennessee.

[tarheel1231]

Thunderbird looks amazing! I wish I could get out to Indiana.

[gabed]

Some amazing pictures from whas11.com:

635653157028225709-Thunderbird---Launching.JPG (937.87KiB)Viewed 4233 times

635653157074246004-Thunderbird-and-Crow-s-Nest.JPG (156.15KiB)Viewed 4233 times

635653157031189728-Thunderbird---Out-of-Immelmann.JPG (680.67KiB)Viewed 4233 times

635653157042889803-Thunderbird---Immelmann-and-Vertical-Loop.jpg (525.76KiB)Viewed 4233 times

635653156946481185-Thunderbird---Fly-through-Barn.JPG (900.04KiB)Viewed 4233 times

Link to the article: http://www.whas11.com/story/entertainme ... /26227749/

[Axel]

lengthy background story on the journey to create Thunderbird... “We really first started having serious conversations with the manufacturers eight years ago.”

http://indianaeconomicdigest.com/main.a ... leID=79328

The Thunderbird uses a massive amount of energy, storing up 2.5 megawatts of electricity in two massive flywheels before releasing the force to propel the train into a 140-foot loop and through 3,035 feet of bright orange track.

It requires so much energy that if Holiday World didn’t build its own substation solely for Thunderbird, the lights in the town of Santa Claus would flicker every time Thunderbird took off.

“Energy just keeps getting poured into it and poured into it, and when it comes time to launch, it gets dumped out all at once,” Leah explained.

The “brains of the operation,” where the two 24,000 pound flywheel assemblies, panels of supercomputers and launch controls are stored, sit to the left of the track just beyond the launch point. There are 9 miles of wiring and 36 miles of conductors that power every aspect of the coaster, including the sound effects, and also the entire nearby plaza, which has been added as an extension of the Thanksgiving section of the park.

[tarheel1231]

^ Great article, made me want to tear up a bit.

[Jonathan]

I really enjoyed reading that. Definitely eases most of the fears I had about the new management.

[Edwardo]

Recently I've spoken to some people close to Holiday World and honestly, I think the park is going to be great. I know there were lots of fear over adding a B&M, and lots of people thinking that was not what Will wanted. No offense, but Will has passed, and eventually the park has to go beyond how he would have ran things based on how the world and industry was when he was alive.

Knowing that he was planning a B&M invert in the same spot as Thunderbird with a similar layout, and knowing (Having had him tell me first hand) that he wanted a steel launched coaster, I'm even more confident that that invert could & would have changed to a launch wing coaster by B&M at this point.

[arby]

Yes, that was a good read and now I can't wait to go there and ride it. I think they are headed in the direction that Will would approve of.

[KenB]

Very good article and it certainly makes me feel much better about the future of the park. It seems to be in very good hands.

And it certainly makes sense that when Will wanted to build a steel coaster, he wanted it to be a B&M invert. I also think he'd find the switch to a wing coaster with a launch to be to his liking. It certainly fits in with his concept of re-creating the forest chase scene from Return of the Jedi.